Students and faculty take home awards from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival

In January, McDaniel College was represented at the Region II Kennedy Center American Theatre Conference Festival (KCACTF) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A group of McDaniel students and recent alums attended the conference to demonstrate their acting, directing, and other theatre arts skills. 

Junior Ave Maria Contreras and alum Jeremy Volker ’24 were recognized with awards, as was Assistant Professor of Theatre Design and Technology Shana Joslyn. Junior Theatre Arts major Reese Weaver of Brandywine, Maryland, was a nominee for the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship, as was Contreras. 

KCACTF is a national theatre conference that has students and faculty from colleges and universities coming nationwide to showcase their work. KCACTF’s goal is to improve the quality of college theatre in the United States. Throughout the conference, participants celebrate their creative work and honor the excellence of students and faculty. 

Contreras, a Theatre Arts major from Westminster, Maryland, won best director during a 24-hour play festival called the Pressure Cooker. Each team included a playwright, director, designer, and actors, who had 24 hours to create a complete play. 

Out of six teams in the competition, Contreras and the McDaniel team won most collaborative. Contreras is actively involved in McDaniel’s Theatre Arts department and recently performed in the campus production of William Shakespeare’s darkest comedy, “Measure for Measure.” 

Volker of Halethorpe, Maryland, won regional first place for the Randy Lutz Allied Design & Technology Award for his makeup design in a campus production of “Eurydice.” Volker earned a trip to the United States Institute for Theatre Technology Conference in Columbus, Ohio, in March of 2025 where his work will be displayed. Volker studied Sociology on the Hill and was a member of College Choir, Green TerrorTones, and performed in plays such as “The Underpants,” “Urinetown, The Musical,” and “Heathers The Musical.”